Drinking/eating while running troubles!

[JTri's]

Hi Liza, thanks for your comments. I am indeed a new runner, so I am still finding out what works for me.

I've done a lot of reading though, and from what I read gels start helping after your muscles have burned off the stored glycogen, which usually happens after about an hour, at least thats form what I've read, but you seem to think it lasts for two hours or more...I'll have to keep researching.

So far, I've felt great after all my "long" runs, the longest of which has been 8miles, but I am not exactly fast. At 12 min a mile, I'm out there for well over an hour. And, I'll be out there for a longer time for that half marathon. I want to finish feeling as great as I do now, on my shorter runs, which is why I'll use a gel as my runs get longer. I may not need one on these 8-9 mile runs, but I want to get my stomach and GI tract a test run a few times to see how I tolerate them.

This weekend, I practiced drinking plain water (small sips!), and felt good the whole 8miles. I was delighted. I must have been taking larger drinks before without realizing it. I felt much less thristy after my run and ended with a good sprint. Before, I was feeling so parched that it was uncomfortable, so I'll continue to practice my little sips of water technique.